RECENT RELEASE
Book Title: Jingled
Author: Evan J. Corbin
Publisher: Atonement Books, LLC
Cover Artist: https://openbookdesign.biz/
Release Date: November 7, 2025
Tense/POV: Third Person
Genres: MM Speculative Fiction; Satire
Theme: Family accepting a gay son
Heat Rating: 1 out of 5 flames
Length: 77 777 words/275 pages
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited
When Christmas never ends… Reality does.
A biting, satirical thriller about a world trapped in endless Christmas cheer.
Blurb
Matt Daughtry has always felt like he and his parents live in separate worlds—his shaped by the urbane, Northeastern liberal elite, theirs by Southern conservatism, homespun “common sense,” and talk show-fueled conspiracies. His homosexuality remains an open secret, something they sidestep rather than confront, much less accept. When he and his sister return for Christmas, the wrong sibling brings home a boyfriend for the first time.
What starts as a tense but routine holiday gathering takes a surreal turn the next morning. Flights are canceled, pilots and flight attendants mysteriously take time off, and by the following day, an estimated seventy-eight million Americans fail to return to work. Their explanation? They just want to spend more time with their families. Christmas can be every day when you’re with family.
His parents—and millions of Americans—are suffering from a bizarre condition, trapped in an endless holiday loop, determined to celebrate Christmas every day. They make choices that go against their self-interests. Blissfully unbothered by their accumulating debts, economic collapse, or even basic responsibilities, they live in a festive delusion seemingly fueled by an addictive algorithm used by an evangelical shopping app called MerryNet.
At first, Matt sees no reason to get involved. He’s never been able to reach his parents before—why would this be any different? But as the syndrome spreads, paralyzing the country, he stumbles upon evidence linking the outbreak to corporate actors intent on silencing their perceived right-wing enemies. Faced with a choice between complicity and action, Matt realizes that exposing the truth may come at the cost of his career, safety, and sanity. But the country may slide further into a dystopian nightmare if he doesn't act.
With the help of his boyfriend and sister, Matt must not only uncover the syndrome’s cause and cure but also confront the deeper divisions tearing his family—and the nation—apart.
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Matt did the math. This was the fifth year he had flown from Chicago to Charlotte to see his family. Five years. Five flights down. Five more back. Five broken promises. He made the same promise every year after Christmas, usually somewhere between his parents’ driveway and the ticketing counter at the airport to fly back home. Never Again. Yet, here he was, sitting in the driver’s seat of the mid-sized rental car parked outside his parents’ house. Again. At least this year, he’d brought reinforcements.
“I just had my vape a second ago,” Matt said, wedging his hand between the driver’s seat and the gear shift, his fingers fanned out, groping for the one thing that would ease his anxiety.
“Is it in your coat pocket?” Grant asked.
“I checked,” Matt said, using his other hand to frisk his chest again.
“Sweetheart,” Grant said, pointing at him. “It’s in your lap.”
“Jesus,” Matt said. “I should put it on one of those chains like they have for pens at the bank.”
Grant brought his matching vape to his lips and sucked on it. “Spoken like two people who could absolutely quit any time they want to.”
Matt coughed. “Maybe once Christmas is over. Until then, I can’t handle any more anxiety.”
His thoughts turned back to his parents. He could recite their lines like a Broadway play that lingered long after its popularity had waned. His mother would allude to a “war on Christmas.” As a proxy for the Northeastern liberal elite, he could count on his father to hold him personally liable for the perceived collapse of family values and decency. He knew it would usually earn a ceasefire to see him and his sister, except this year, the wrong sibling was bringing a boyfriend home for the first time.
“It’s pretty,” Grant said, craning his neck to look at the two-story house with the white vinyl siding.
Matt scoffed. The home he grew up in was scarcely any different from the other homes on the block. He knew his boyfriend was only trying to help, but he ignored him and took another slow drag on his vape. He exhaled a thin plume of vapor, watching it curl around the steering wheel in a car that grew colder with each minute he procrastinated. He stuffed the vape into his coat.
Matt thought of his vape and figured he wouldn’t be the only one with a concealed weapon at his parents’ house. His father, a proud concealed-carry permit owner, wouldn’t let the family forget his holstered "right to bear arms" strapped under his armpit. Honestly, Matt thought, it barely qualified as “concealed” when his dad worked it into every discussion, from gas prices to his latest election conspiracy.
Matt, by contrast, prided himself on his ability to keep secrets like the one now discreetly tucked into his coat. He’d never been caught, though his frequent trips to the bathroom hadn’t escaped his mother’s relentless curiosity. Her concern for his well-being was as unwavering as his determination to dodge the interrogations she called “conversations.”
Last year, after two clandestine trips to the bathroom in less than an hour, with the earnestness only she could muster, she’d asked if he needed to see a doctor about his prostate. At twenty-nine years old, he knew the suggestion was absurd. Matt resisted the temptation to tell her that if he wanted his prostate examined, he had an app for that.
Ornery Owl's Review
Rating: Five out of Five stars
This book grabbed me by the lapels with its unique premise and when it dragged me along for the wild ride, I didn't resist. The story combines a family drama, a legal thriller, and a tale of public-health/political panic. It sounds like a recipe for mismatched cacophony, but it works wonderfully.
What is the source of the "Christmas Virus," a peculiar pandemic affecting many US residents including the President? If you enjoy snarky social commentary, lovable flawed oddball protagonists, and are the kind of person for whom Spinal Tap's Christmas With the Devil is on repeat during the holiday season, you will want to read this book and find out.
The author does an excellent job of balancing dark comedy with genuine emotional connections between the characters. This is the kind of book you'll want to enjoy while sipping wine, eating salted nuts, and listening to Spinal Tap. It has a truly unique flavor! Due to mature subject matter including drug use, the story is intended for adult audiences.
About the Author
Evan is a member of the LGBTQ community who fancies himself as a playboy socialite, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between work and lucid moments of sobriety, he writes a little. His debut novel is a light-hearted work that still manages to confront religious hypocrisy and contemporary LGBTQ struggles to balance their loss of culture with new-found civil rights.
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